Secrets from a Faraway Land
by Crestilia
Summary: Ash Ketchum, Champion of Kanto, is off on another adventure. Donning a new set of clothes and dragging his trusty Pikachu alongside him, the young Trainer ends up in Alola through a series of coincidences. As he carries the burden of paperwork, studying, and a secret identity, Ash has embarked on a political quest disguised...as a mere vacation. Of course, nothing goes as planned.
1. Chapter 1

**Secrets from a Faraway Land - A Pokemon Fanfiction**

 **Sequel To "The End of Team Rocket"**

* * *

 **Hey, guys. Technically, this is a sequel to "EOTR," another story written by me, but honestly, you don't need to read it to understand what's going on.**

 **Also, expect shorter chapters. And I don't own Pokemon, either, if you guys didn't know that.**

* * *

Source Episode: 1

* * *

The vacation was fun.

It was very fun.

In fact, it was so fun that Ash had completely forgotten his sense of dignity.

Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town, Indigo (and Orange, but that one didn't really count) League Champion and the winner of a bunch o' badges hadn't felt so relaxed in a long time. The afternoon sun beamed gently down on Melemele Island's towering palm trees and fine sand. A warm ocean breeze traveled from the south, cooling off both people and Pokemon. Native Alolans relaxed on the beach and shopped at open-air stalls, enjoying the beautiful weather.

Who _wouldn't_ be having fun in the middle of a vacation? Ash hadn't really had one in a couple of years, so he'd made sure to read through the entire tourist website, adamant on trying everything from the Ride Pokemon to the famous Alolan cuisine.

Plus, he needed to lighten up his Pikachu, who, at first, hadn't been so keen on the whole 'vacation' idea.

His home region was prospering, and Ash had ended up fixing so many of Kanto's problems that he felt as if he was bordering mental insanity. The number of Gyms in the region was finally back up to twelve. Ten new schools had been built in the region over the past six months—one of them being Viridian University (Gary had practically begged his childhood friend for it to be built in his city)—and the Safari Zone's boundaries had been expanded. Six Gyms had been remodeled and three had been built. The Vermillion City port had been expanded and a new airport had been constructed on the outskirts of Fuschia City. Lavender Town's graveyard and tower received massive renovations.

Ash knew all of this because his Meganium had personally sped-grown all of the trees needed for each school's wood demand. Infernape, Torterra and Krookodile had bribed thousands of Diglett to dig up stone with berries and had carried a mountain's worth of granite and basalt to construction sites, where Buizel, Servine, Noivern, and Sceptile led Ash's present number of Pokemon (at least a quarter of them were off traveling or something) in building houses, bridges, and other small establishments. All thirty of the Trainer's Tauros had been put to work on paving city roads with Bulldoze. Ash's paperwork skyrocketed.

Lance had once said, "If you want to have something done around here, be prepared to do it yourself."

The teen had taken the Dragon Master's advice to heart. And although it was draining work, it was pretty prominent that the teen enjoyed being the Champion of Kanto despite the job's drawbacks.

"Pikapi! Pika-chu!"

"Ah!" Ash exclaimed, shaking himself out of his self-imposed ponderance and inadvertently bumping his knees into the restaurant dinner table. "Sorry, I was just thinking to myself."

"Pika-chu?"

The teen huffed. "Yeah, yeah. I get it."

"Pikapika!"

"Nope, not gonna use it! No matter how much you try to convince me!" the Trainer exclaimed, shoving a piece of salad in his mouth indignantly.

The Electric-type crossed his arms. "Pika…"

"My head's under like, fifty times less stress, now, and I'd like to keep it that way."

"Pikapika-chu!"

"It's probably not even good for me to use Aura so much! I need to, like, recuperate or something."

"Pikapi." _Idiot._

Ash sighed. "Fine. But this is a _vacation_ , and I'm not going to strain myself on a vacation, so this will be a rare occurrence!"

The Trainer closed his eyes, taking a relaxed position in his wooden chair and concentrating life energy into his head.

" _Today was fun, wasn't it?"_ his starter Pokemon asked.

Ash opened his eyes. "Yeah, it was."

" _And by the way, I was asking a perfectly normal question, and you just_ _had_ _to interpret that perfectly normal question incorrectly."_

The Trainer grimaced. "Sorry 'bout that."

" _I totally beat you in that beach race, by the way,"_ Pikachu reminisced. " _And no, that 'Fire Skitty' spitting an Ember at you is not an excuse for being out of shape."_

"Hey! I am on vaca—"

" _We've done some pretty interesting activities, though,"_ the Mouse Pokemon interrupted. " _Came out of your salary, so it was a waste of money, but the Sharpedo ride was really fun. And the Pokemon School tour was pretty enjoyable."_

"Yeah. The Tauros were really friendly."

" _That Lillie girl is strange, though. Have you met anyone who was too scared to touch Pokemon?"_

The Trainer laughed. "Be nice, Pikachu. You never know: someone might be listening."

" _Listening to a crazy guy talk to himself?"_ the Electric-type quipped.

Ash huffed. "Alright, I'm done," he announced jokingly. "Don't wanna talk to you anymore if you're just gonna insult me."

" _Hey, wait!"_ Pikachu exclaimed. " _That's as rude as ignoring me! And remember when you did that in Kalos?"_

"Aw, don't bring that up _now._ I'm on vacation, so I'm only allowed to think happy thoughts."

The duo shared a laugh.

" _You were right,"_ Pikachu conceded. " _We_ _did_ _need a vacation."_

"Yeah," Ash replied. "I'm really glad Mimey won that lotte—"

He froze.

"Ah! The waitress is coming! Act normal!"

* * *

"Did anything interesting happen to you?"

"Huh?" Ash was once again snapped back into reality. He realized that he'd been staring into space.

"You seem like you're out of energy," Delia Ketchum remarked, giving her son a serene smile.

Out of energy because of the day's events or the prolonged Aura usage? Either way, it was rare for Ash to be able to show his exhaustion. He laughed.

A shrill cry suddenly broke the Trainer's chain of thought. He promptly exchanged looks with his partner, jumped out of his seat, and grabbed onto a piece of steel railing despite his mother's call.

"That just now was…" he trailed off and jumped over the metal bars, running after the source of the sound.

" _A murder?"_ Pikachu asked dramatically, trailing behind him. " _It could be a city-wide Pokemon's rights protest. A riot. Or Johto's battle cry when they finally decide to invade us!"_

Ash picked up his pace. "Lance wouldn't do that. Plus, I'm pretty sure that was a _Pokemon's_ call."

" _Of course. Was just messing with you. He said something like, 'You have been summoned!'"_

"Why am I getting legendary Pokemon vibes?" Ash asked, mostly to himself.

At the edge of the pavilion, an orange, yellow, black, and white-colored Pokemon floated in midair, staring at him expectantly.

"Good grief," the Trainer muttered. "Already?!"

* * *

It was midnight. Although the moon illuminated the beachside house, Ash almost tripped over a small Pokemon sleeping on the wooden floor near the window as he dragged his suitcase through the door.

"You'll be staying up there," Professor Kukui spoke up, motioning a hand toward the ladder that led up to his attic. "Will that be okay?"

"Yeah," Ash replied. "Thanks again."

"Pika pika!"

The Professor chuckled. "The house will definitely be more lively with you."

"Are you sure you're okay with sleeping on the couch?" the Trainer asked.

"Yeah. I work late in the basement, so I don't want to bother you."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Most of the other Pokemon Professors live in a different time zone, and our video calls are pretty lengthy. I don't want you to lose sleep over listening to us argue."

Ash wanted to mention that he was actually pretty interested in move mechanics and evolution theory, but a look from his starter was enough to keep the Trainer quiet.

"Oh yeah. If you want the Wi-Fi password, I wrote it on a sticky note and placed it on a drawer upstairs," Kukui spoke up.

The teen also wanted to mention that he and Bill were working on a way to provide region-wide accessible Internet connection in Kanto but thought better of it. Instead, he nodded and thanked the Researcher before slowly climbing up the wooden ladder's rungs.

"Good night!" Professor Kukui called out. "Don't forget to wake up early for school."

"Good night!" Ash echoed back. He had to stop himself from running up to the Researcher and demanding to know who was in charge of the Alola region, 'Take me to your leader'-style.

The Kantonian Champion was going to prove Steven wrong. It'll probably take some time, but it _had_ to be possible to establish trade with Alola. So Ash made it his personal mission.

"Believe me, it's a hopeless cause," the Champion of Hoenn had advised. "Although they're teeming with resources, they also just want to capitalize on tourism and take all our money. Plus, the inhabitants are pretty rooted in tradition, so it'd take a lot to get them to change."

When the lights were finally out, and when the basement door finally closed shut, the Trainer let out a sigh.

"Pikapi, pikapika."

"I know. Time to get to work."

The Kantonian Champion sat down on the floor and began to unpack his suitcase. As Pikachu watched, the Trainer dug under a pile of clothes and promptly took out a sleek, black laptop. Placing the device on his lap, the teen pressed the 'on' button and began to type, his fingers flying on the keyboard.

"Did you find the Wi-Fi password?" Ash asked, turning on his Aura.

" _Yeah. It's 'Giga Impact,' but with ones replacing the I's and fours replacing the A's. And capitalize the G."_

"Space or no space?"

" _Include the space."_

"'Kay. Thanks, Pikachu."

" _No problem,"_ the Electric-type replied, tiptoeing around the second floor. " _Don't you need to report to the Elite Four, now?"_

"Ah, you're right. I'll send them a quick email. Then we can start on the daily paperwork load."

" _Do we have any tournaments to attend?"_

"Nah. Bruno volunteered to substitute for the Cinnabar Island one and Lorelei wanted to host the one on Four Island," Ash explained, staring into the screen. "We're not needed in person for another three months."

Pikachu hopped on his Trainer's shoulder. " _You got an email from the Mountain,"_ he remarked.

"Yeah. Meganium was just giving me an update on the forest-growing we're doing. The Grass-types…at least, the helpful ones on the team are turning abandoned towns into more forest. Of course, we're leaving some behind for the Ghost and Poison-Types to congregate." He yawned loudly. "Go ahead and get ready for bed. I'll finish this up and join you shortly."

" _Okay. Maybe tomorrow we'll find out what Tapu Koko wants with you."_

"That Kiawe kid, too."

" _If he wants a fight, we'll bring it to him."_

Ash chuckled. "I doubt he's a bad person. Just a little stiff. And he doesn't think I'm a good Trainer."

" _Seriously, Tapu Koko's a weirdo. He's been stalking you."_

"Really?"

Pikachu picked up a bundle of blankets from a nearby drawer and began to drag them to the couch. " _I wouldn't be surprised if at least a quarter of the Pokemon on Melemele know who you are by now."_

"Yeah, but they all seem keen on killing me or something…especially that screaming Ursaring-Chansey hybrid. I think the ones in Kanto have more respect."

" _That's 'cause they know that you'll listen to their problems,"_ Pikachu muttered, curling up on the couch. " _Plus, you're the Champion. They worship the ground you step on."_

"They do?"

" _I was exaggerating."_

"Of course you were." Ash yawned again. "Well, goodnight. We didn't really find any useful information today but...I guess we'll just have to talk some other time."

" _Goodnight, Ash."_

* * *

 **If you have no idea what is going on, go ahead and read "The End of Team Rocket."**

 **Yeah.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Alola!**

 **In case you didn't know:**

"Talk"

'Thoughts' **(I never use this one, though)**

 _"Poke-speak/Aura/Telepathy"_

"Electronics" **(Rotom would fall under this one)**

 **There are no clocks in Las Vegas gambling casinos.**

* * *

Source Episode: 4

* * *

Ash was determined.

If there was one aspect of his career as a Trainer that he absolutely _sucked_ at, it was catching Pokemon. Contrary to popular belief, all those years of playing baseball as a kid didn't help him much in that regard. Most people sharpened their throwing skills over the course of their travels, but the teen was somehow mentally unable to keep up with the average learning curve.

And that's why this Grubbin was going _down_.

As Ash and crew watched, the Bug-type jumped into the air, spinning around and firing a String Shot at Pikachu, who immediately dodged to the left with a Quick Attack.

"Pikapi!" _Don't worry, Ash. I got this!_

The Larvae Pokemon shouted some rather profane words (not that the teen knew what he was saying) angrily and fired another String Shot.

Lillie yelped as the attack rocketed toward her face and instinctively stepped backward in her shock to avoid it. The sticky silk wrapped around one of Pikachu's hind legs, pulling him toward the bystanders and instigating a few exclamations of surprise.

"Pika!" _Die, you scoundrel!_

"Pikachu!" Ash shouted, genuinely worried for his Electric-type.

This was the Trainer's chance to prove that he wasn't totally incompetent at catching Pokemon. Most of his team members had joined him by choice (even his Tauros herd had admitted to running into his Pokeball's flight trajectory in the Safari Zone all those years ago), which made the teen a bit rusty at the strength calculation that even amateurs were decent at. He could only hope that his Pikachu knew not to hit the poor Bug-type too hard and make him run away.

"Be careful of its strong jaw!" Rotom warned, stating the obvious.

Grubbin zoomed past the Electric-type (and a traumatized Lillie) through the air and promptly disappeared underground.

"Pika!" the Mouse Pokemon shouted, falling on his back. _Curses!_

Ash ran up to his fallen partner, reaching down to pick him up from the forest ground. "Are you alright?" he asked, worried.

"Pika-chu." _I'm wallowing in self-despair._

Popplio and Togedemaru looked absolutely distressed.

"Pikachu: confirmed to have taken damage," Rotom reported unhelpfully.

"I'm sorry!" Lillie apologized, crestfallen.

"I'll show you the way to the Pokemon Center," Mallow volunteered.

Ash stood up, cradling his depressed Electric-Type in his arms. "There's a Pokemon Center here?" _In the woods?_ "Thank goodness." He turned to the girl clad in white. "And Lillie, don't worry about it."

"I…"

"Ash," Kiawe spoke up, grabbing the attention of said Trainer, "we'll head back to the school and tell Professor Kukui what happened."

"Thank you," the Trainer replied sheepishly.

"Follow me!" Mallow exclaimed, turning around and racing away.

As the Champion of Kanto followed the green-haired girl, a single thought lingered in his head…

If Gary ever found out about this, it'd be pretty embarrassing.

* * *

" _I'm probably the only Champion's starter to ever fail at catching a mere weak Caterpie. Oh Zekrom—that bully—I've been shamed! Imagine what Dragonite would think of me, now! He'd declare a rematch and I haven't trained intensely in four days…"_

Turns out, the Pokemon Center _wasn't_ in the forest, much to the Pallet Town Trainer's dismay.

As Ash handed his Electric-type over to the Blissey, he bent down so that he was eye-level with the Happiness Pokemon, much to the confusion of Mallow.

"Yeah, he's physically fine. Might wanna do some counseling, though. I think he lost his dignity," the Trainer whispered in the Normal-Type's ear.

" _Ash'll get demoted, Kanto'll be in riot, the Pokemon will start campaigning for rights, Umbreon'll make fun of me, and Paul…"_

Blissey sighed. " _I'll do my best."_

"Thanks."

" _Wait 'til Charizard hears that I lost to a freaking auxiliary Electric-type legendary…"_

* * *

" _Grubbin evolves into an Electric-type, anyway,"_ Blissey explained, figuratively grasping at straws. Therapy was not her strongest suit, despite her Pokedex entry. (Even the Lucky Egg-giving trick didn't work, and that _always_ worked.) " _Maybe the Guardians don't want your Trainer to have another Electric-type. It can be, like, 'fate' or something."_

Pikachu's expression brightened considerably " _True. That_ _is_ _a very logical theory."_

" _And as for that match with Tapu Koko…uh, you did say that you haven't seriously trained in four days?"_

" _A week, actually."_

Blissey was genuinely concerned. The revered Guardians of Alola should've had no business with a low-leveled, arrogant Pikachu like this one. " _Well, there you go."_

" _Wow,"_ the Electric-type marveled, " _I feel like I can tell you all of my problems."_

" _Really?"_ the Happiness Pokemon asked, surprised.

" _Well, you see here, my Trainer's actually the Champion of Kanto, and since I'm his ace, he uses me for the challenging battles. Like, three weeks ago, we KO'ed a Cresselia pretty badly and it was really fun. But my Trainer's on this mission now, trying to establish trade between Kanto and Alola and stuff—not easy, since you guys are so insular…no offense—so we're feigning incompetence and it's so easy for him 'cause he's already pretty dumb, even for a Human…"_

* * *

"Pika-chu!"

"Pikachu has fully recovered," Joy announced happily.

The Normal-type rolling the cart wiped a trail of sweat from the side of her face. "Blis-sey!"

* * *

A certain Trainer couldn't help but notice both of Nurse Joy's assistants giving him weird looks as he and Mallow left the Pokemon Center.

* * *

The next morning, Ash's determination was reaching soaring levels.

"Today's the day," he announced to Mallow as they sat outside on a porch, eating fruit. "I'm definitely getting a Pokemon, _today_!"

Pikachu pumped a fist into the air. "Pika!" _Yeah!_

* * *

With a steep, airborne roll to gain momentum, a fierce Iron Tail swung down on Team Rocket's Mimikyu...missing completely, which was strange, because Pikachu was sure that his attack had hit. Did it somehow go _through_ the Ghost and Fairy-Type?

" _Die, die, DIE!"_ Mimikyu screamed.

The Mouse Pokemon was at a loss. How was he supposed to deal with _this_ without trying?! Maybe if he faked a knockout… _AH,_ looks like _that's_ not gonna work.

The Disguise Pokemon continued its attack, charging up a powerful-looking Shadow Ball and screaming bloody murder.

He was _so_ screwed…

* * *

Toucannon locked his eyes on the back of the strange Human.

"You see, Rowlet has so many friends," he had explained. "They're all family. That's why it's alright."

The Trainer now continued to walk away, unwilling to let his companions to catch up despite their confused calls.

" _W-wait!"_ the Grass Quill Pokemon shouted, visibly deflating when the teen didn't respond.

Toucannon continued staring intently at the silhouette of the Human's receding form. He'd heard Tapu Koko muttering about a Trainer clad in white and blue: something about his excitement for the Chosen One's arrival and how, with the turn of events, disaster was destined to come to Alola. The Normal and Flying-type honestly didn't care.

Without breaking his line of vision, Toucannon carefully nudged his son's back. " _Go,"_ he insisted.

" _Huh?"_

" _Go."_

* * *

Rowlet jumped from Ash's outstretched arm, taking flight. " _Come and get me!"_ he shouted enthusiastically.

"What is it doing?" Rotom asked, confused. The Trainer could almost see the circuits connecting in the Electric-type's head. Did he lose his ability to speak with Pokemon in his Pokedex form?

"Isn't it obvious? He's telling me to catch him!" Ash replied, taking out a red and white-colored sphere from his backpack. With unmatched accuracy (huh, maybe his history with baseball was kinda useful, after all), the teen promptly threw the Pokeball in his hand.

* * *

"I got...a Rowlet!" the Trainer exclaimed, pausing for a second (he was sure he was missing something…) before grinning and punching his occupied arm into the air.

" _I'd forgotten that it was a tradition to pose!"_ Pikachu exclaimed, pumping his fist in victory. He had sincerely hoped for a heated battle, but now, looking back, that would've just scared the poor thing away.

"I…is it possible to get a Pokemon like this?" Rotom questioned.

"Of course it is," Ash answered, trying to hide the annoyance from his voice. Next to him, Mallow beamed with excitement.

The teen may have been incompetent at traditional catching methods, but there was a reason he was still a pretty good Trainer, in his opinion.

* * *

It was a very lively two in the morning.

Rowlet was snoring peacefully, nestled in a certain backpack. Occasionally, he'd mutter a few words and shift in his sleep. Next to him, Rockruff curled up on the couch.

Ash thought the Rock-type was the most adorable thing on the planet. Now _he_ wanted a Rockruff, too. Maybe tomorrow he'd ask Kukui how he got such a cute Pokemon.

But the Trainer's opinions didn't matter at the moment. His government exam was taking _way_ too long. The teen would definitely rather be sleeping than writing an essay on the role of the courts and media in the policy process. No, he honestly didn't care about how gerrymandering affected electoral competition in regions like Unova.

From the basement, it was pretty clear that Kukui's new theories on Absorb, Mega Drain, and Giga Drain weren't easily being accepted by whoever was on the other end of his video call. Probably Professors Juniper and Rowan again, if Ash was to make an educated guess.

Pikachu had given up on sleep for the night and had disappeared outside for some self-training. Occasionally, when he glanced out the window, the Trainer could make out a column of lightning arcing through the clear sky in the distance. The teen hoped that his starter was courteous enough to keep his volume to a minimum. Then again, the Electric-type was probably venting his frustration and scaring half the wild Pokemon away.

As the Champion of Kanto finished typing up his free-response question, he clicked on the 'submit' button to his online exam and promptly relaxed, letting out a sigh of defeat.

He had one last video call to make before his day was over.

* * *

"Hey, what's up?" Gary asked, leaning against the back of his chair.

Ash put on his earbuds and rubbed his eyes. Staring at a computer screen for such a prolonged period of time definitely wasn't beneficial to his health. "What time is it?" he asked.

"9:30 pm," the other Pallet Town native answered. "Just closed up the Viridian Gym for the day. I'm on a winning streak, you know. The challengers aren't as strong as they used to be."

"Why? Did Kanto lose its most talented Trainer when Gary Oak chose to become a Researcher?" Ash quipped, grinning.

"You guessed it!"

The Champion massaged the nape of his neck, covering up a yawn with his free hand as he did so. "Well, gotta sleep soon, but I have a few questions for you before I wrap up for the day. Sorry I can't entertain you for much longer."

"Yeah, isn't it like, three in the morning in Alola right now?"

"Don't remind me," Ash muttered before slapping himself awake in the arm. "Alright. Did Surge begin his renovations yet?"

"Yeah. Started last night. I think he got the idea from visiting Sinnoh awhile ago. Couldn't stop complaining to me about how their Gym Leaders get so much time to renovate. I don't think he listened when I told him that Volkner from Sunyshore City is a special case."

"Okay. Keep me updated on that. Is Viridian University ready to open?"

"We're going to wait," Gary answered. "We've got enough faculty and supplies. It's just that we want to align with the League year as well. April is pretty far away, but grandpa's writing the curriculum for the Pokemon-related classes as we speak."

"That's fine," Ash remarked. "Take your time."

"Yeah, we're trying to get Bill to teach a course, but he never likes to go anywhere, so recruiting him's a bit more difficult than we thought it would be."

"I can imagine."

Gary laughed. "Do you have any more questions?"

"Yeah. Who won the most recent Celadon City Battle Tournament?" Ash asked.

"I _knew_ you were interested in that!" the Viridian Gym Leader exclaimed, crossing his arms triumphantly and swinging around in his chair. "Brendan did, by the way. Remember him? Hairnet kid?"

"Of course," his friend answered. "But looking back, I'm starting to think that the thing he was wearing was a just weird hat."

"You know, at first glance, Umbreon thought it was a wig."

"Really? Totodile did, too."

Gary shook his head. "But seriously, you need to get some sleep. I doubt you're any closer to figuring out relations with Alola right now."

"Yeah, I'm not," Ash agreed. "But that's no reason to neglect Kanto. But don't worry, this'll be my last question before I sleep."

"Fire away."

"Did the PIA stop by recently?" the Champion asked.

"The _what_?"

"The Pokemon Inspection Agency. I haven't received their latest scheduled report. They were supposed to check on Yas and Kaz from Dark City this month. And you, too."

Gary combed his unruly hair absentmindedly with his fingers. "Wait…that Joy in a trenchcoat that criticized my floor tiles was actually PIA?!"

"Your floor tiles?" Ash questioned. "The spinny ones?"

"Yeah!" the Gym Leader exclaimed, indignant. "She said that they were dizzying and potentially unsafe!"

"I think that was a compliment."

"Really? They called Lt. Surge's trash cans 'unoriginal' and 'repulsively boring.' He barely passed the inspection!"

"Huh. So _that's_ why he was so adamant on remodeling," the Kantonian Champion realized aloud. "Yeah, it's a little-known fact, but the PIA actually like difficult, flashy puzzles. Like two months ago, I sent a few of the agents to Unova to check out the Gyms there. They came back pretty disillusioned and immediately demanded for more funding to be spent on city renovations."

"So I'm not in danger of losing my Gym?" Gary asked, relieved.

"Nah," Ash answered. "If you were, I'd back you up. Had to help you build that thing, anyway."

The Gym Leader grinned. "Plus, it's not _my_ fault that the younger Trainers refuse to go one at a time! I even put up a sign!"

* * *

 **So, you're asking why I'm updating with chapter 2 so quickly, right?**

 **Haha. It's 'cause I won't have time to do it when August comes around. Have thirty kiddies to take care of. Gotta teach 'em how to breathe and walk and stuff.**

 **Here's a shoutout to my kiddies.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey, y'all. Well, here's another chapter. I actually wrote this one in the summer but didn't think that it was good enough to upload.**

 **But since I'm not really serious about writing this (anymore), I decided to publish anyway. Also, I have other chapters written, but they're kinda contradictory and not as good (wrote them before I finished EOTR). Tell me if you want them anyway.**

 **After this, I'm going to start writing a story that doesn't pertain to another author's work. After that...maybe I'll be back. I have lots of unpublished work that could totally go under this title.**

 **Also, if someone could get rid of these spam reviews, that'd be great. I've contacted the website, but they're not going away, so something's up. I know there's a way to make them not visible to the public until I review them, but I'm not going to spend time on that... :P**

SFFL: The Emails

Source ep: N/A

* * *

Ash was, to be frank, sleep deprived.

He'd started to make a habit out of staying up late to study, sign documents, and monitor activity in his region. 2 am in Alola, he found out, courtesy of a certain Viridian City Gym Leader, was also 9 pm in Kanto, so it had become something like a ritual to make phone calls at 11 and start homework at 12.

2 am became Ash's daily email-checking time.

For some reason, Professor Kukui still hadn't figured out about his freeloader's nightly activities. The man was always too busy being yelled at by whoever was on the other end of his nightly video calls. Ash felt absolutely terrible for his self-esteem.

Recently, there had been protests advocating Pokemon's rights in Goldenrod City (the very thing that Ash had been worried about happening in his own region), and Lance was too busy with the fiasco to help the Kantonian Champion with his work. Since Bruno was also an Elite Four member for Johto (Ash had no idea how _that_ happened), the Fighting-type Trainer had left the region to calm down the situation and clean spray paint off the sidewalks.

Although Agatha and Lorelei were certainly helpful, they had their own responsibilities and were too preoccupied with their personal and political matters to assist the Champion of Kanto, who was left with ninety-four unread messages in his email inbox.

With a long sigh, Ash clicked on the first line of bolded text. It was from Lance himself.

* * *

Ash,

Sorry for the holdup. Goldenrod's a mess right now.

I won't be able to talk to the Jenny family next week. I canceled the appointment, but I'll try to get to them sometime soon.

The new nature preserve will open on schedule. Pewter City expects you to be present for that.

Don't forget to update me with the progress of your mission.

Agatha and Lorelei feel like retiring—no offense to you—so we should hire new Elite Four members. Tell me what you think.

Hope that your vacation's going well. Get some sleep, champ.

Lance

Ash typed up a quick reply.

Lance,

Yeah, I've seen the news. Tell me if you need me and I'll take the nearest flight there. Dunno if I'll be much help, though.

Don't worry, I'll be there for the opening. It's in four months, right?

Found no leads here on Melemele so far except this Island Challenge, where you have to complete trials and fight something called a Kahuna—which is sorta like a Gym Leader/Mayor combination. I'll be trying to complete that, but I don't really know if that'll lead me anywhere.

As for the Elite Four…yeah, no offense taken. We can keep Bruno and audition for the rest, I guess, unless you have better plans. Actually, if you want, we can share Elite Four members as Champions of Kanto and Johto. Might be easier on you, especially since you're more overworked than _I_ am.

My vacation has been fun. Met a couple of friends and caught this spherical Grass-type Pidgey called a Rowlet. I'll attach a picture.

G'night,

Ash.

* * *

Hey Ash,

The WiFi system is working. Its range is up to 20 km, thanks to your Sceptile and Servine. (They were really helpful!) We might be able to get this done in three years, at this rate.

Also, the machine blew up, so I went ahead and started building a new one.

Thanks,

Bill

P.S. How's Alola?

Bill,

I'll leave everything to you. My Grass-types are certainly in good hands.

Don't forget to eat. If Meganium reports to me that you've been skipping meals again, I'll start ordering canned food online.

Also, Alola's great. It's nice and warm but also really tiring. All the Pokemon here want to fight me or something. Crazy, right?

See ya,

Ash

P.S. Does your lighthouse need repairs?

* * *

Dude, Ashy-boy,

Have you seen the PSA I starred in? Here's a link. It's hilarious.

/dontdrinkanddrive

Professor Gary Oak

[ ]

Gary-beary,

That was terrible. As bad as your driving skills.

I don't understand how you're advocating safe driving when you're like, the epitome of unsafe driving habits. You were even driving illegally for the longest time.

You don't deserve this after you've almost run me over, like, five times.

Ash, The Champion of Kanto

* * *

My dear Champion,

It's time for me to retire.

Agatha

Dear Agatha,

I understand.

Ash

* * *

Ash,

My uncle's brother's daughter's cousin's grandfather's nephew is turning eight and since his parents have moved to Unova, they've asked me to take care of him. I'm afraid that I have to resign from my post as an Elite Four member.

My apologies,

Lorelei

The Champion was pretty skeptical about that family relation.

Lorelei,

No problem! Thank you for supporting me for the past six months.

Best wishes,

Ash

* * *

As Pikachu shifted in his sleep (that traitor!), the Trainer clicked on another message.

Hey, Ash!

I hope Alola has been treating you well.

Anyway, I saw Lt. Surge's renovations, so I was thinking that I want to rebuild the Cerulean Gym. I'd like some kind of dome design, you know. Something majestic and beautiful.

Here's a picture of Psyduck. He's smiling for you.

Also, if you don't call Serena by tomorrow, I'll fly to Melemele and mallet you all the way to Hoenn. She won her last Contest, you know. ;)

Misty

The Trainer jumped as he heard a frustrated yell from the basement. It seemed as if Kukui's problems hadn't disappeared.

Misty,

I've already given you an ample budget. As long as the people in your city are okay with it, go ahead.

Also, if you don't mind, I was thinking of introducing the Gym system to Alola. You see, I'm enrolled in a school here (stop laughing!) and my teacher is a Pokemon Professor here who has quite a bit of influence. If you show him a good Gym battle, he might get excited about Kanto.

So…I'll give you and Brock a bonus next month if you're able to set up an exchange program with the Pokemon School on Melemele Island.

No, I'm not joking. I'm desperate.

I still don't understand what's going on between you and Serena. Why don't you just tell her what you want to say?

Ash

P.S. Say hi to Tracey for me.

* * *

Ash,

If you ever want to destress yourself, you can always come home!

Love,

Mom

Mom,

Thanks, I'll think about it.

Ash

* * *

Ash,

Your girlfriend is waiting for you. Give her a call! ;) ;) ;)

Best wishes,

Iris

Iris,

Go away. I don't have a girlfriend. xP

Best wishes,

Ash

* * *

Ash,

I put the renovation money to good use. When you come back, stop at Vermillion for a nice surprise.

Also, come to the Gym if you ever need a nice beating. Raichu and I can dish out some pain.

Lt. Surge

Vermillion City Gym Leader

Lt. Surge,

I'll keep that in mind.

Ash

* * *

Ash,

I wanna retire. No one comes to my Gym nowadays because they know they can't beat me.

Koga

* * *

Dear Ash,

Thank you for your email.

It's pretty rare for someone to be so informed about the workings of Aura, and I'm glad that you did your research.

I know you wanted lessons, but I don't think I'll be able to help you in that regard. You see, only people with a certain Aura signature can successfully manipulate their life signature.

If you have any more questions, I'll be on Iron Island.

Sincerely,

Riley

The Trainer stared bug-eyed at the screen for a good three minutes, rereading the content of the message. He'd emailed the Aura adept a few months ago, explaining the situation to the best of his ability, but it seemed as if his efforts had been in vain.

Riley

I understand. Thanks for replying.

Ash

* * *

Asshsh

Oi hjoupe youire ok witgh me getying a bigfgfer kreyuboiard

Thjs sdoesnh't woirk rfor jmyu paqws

Bvuiksell

Buizel,

Sure. Don't throw the old one away, though. I like that one.

Ash

* * *

Dear Ash,

I was on your mountain last week but you were absent. Where are you? The Cerulean City Gym Leader said that you were on vacation.

I'm not going to battle your Pokemon if you're not there.

Paul

Paul,

Sorry, I'm not on the mountain anymore. Misty was right…sorta.

You can challenge me if you find me, but I'm training up a new team, so I don't know if you'd really want to battle. If you want to find my Greninja, though, he's in Kalos. And Charizard's in Johto.

Best wishes,

Ash

* * *

Ash,

Go to sleep.

-Brock

Brock,

Yes sir.

Ash


	4. Chapter 4

**Um, so it's been a while.**

 **Since then, I've done like, a year of school and graduated. So that's fun. I'm also on the second draft of this novel I've been working on. It's about superheroes, haha.**

 **I've also kept up with fanfiction but haven't written any in a long time.**

 **But today, someone PMed me with a nice note and I just couldn't let that slide by. (Now, if only these spam reviews would fix themselves...)**

 **Ah, whatever. It makes this one of the most reviewed Pokemon fanfics out there, which is publicity, I guess. x)**

 **My writing style has changed, again, but this chapter was written like a year ago, so you shouldn't be able to tell the difference.**

The Trainer

* * *

Ash Ketchum.

Kiawe didn't quite understand his new classmate. After all, the trainer hailing from Kanto skipped around Melemele Island—with that goofy grin of his—as if each day was delightfully impeccable. The kid absolutely refused to be let down by anything (seriously, how did he not see how stupid he looked sometimes?!), and even Professor Kukui could see how energetic and…rash he was.

On the other hand, there was something about this 'Ash' character that intrigued him. It was as if the boy was a magnet to people, pulling them close with a strange (but likable) charisma. The Fire-type trainer didn't understand how, but all of his classmates had become instant friends with the Kanto kid as soon as they set eyes on him.

One quick search on the Internet would tell him everything about the guy. It was why he was in the library that afternoon. Kiawe was certain that the kid had traveled before. And if he'd traveled, it was likely that he'd competed in a regional conference.

As he typed the name into the search bar, he became a little doubtful. The first link to come up was a Trainer Profile on a kid named 'Gary Oak' (was he some distant relative of the principal?) and the second was a particularly strange video on PokeTube: a live (at least, it was at the time) broadcast from the Kalos Region. Kiawe began to watch it, but quickly became bored with the camerawoman (what's the deal with that purple-pink hair?) and began to skim through the rest of the five-hour long broadcast. Lumiose City (wow, that place has been totally destroyed)…some Pokemon (woah, that Charizard is black!)…Team Flare ( he was glad he didn't live in Kalos)…some more Pokemon (heh, that one kinda looks like Ash)…some explosions…

He closed out of the video with a sigh and looked at the next link.

"The Unexplained Coordinating World: What Friends Can Do," he read aloud.

What in the name of Solgaleo was 'coordinating?' Mapmaking?

Then he saw the words underneath: 'An article by May Maple, Princess of Hoenn, with the assistance of Dawn Berlitz.'

Kiawe sighed. All he wanted was a simple Trainer Profile or something like that…

The fourth option looked promising.

'Kalos League: Lumiose Conference Finals!' it read. 'Charizard vs. Greninja! Watch video free!'

The Fire-type trainer clicked on the link right away.

"This site is restricted for copyri—oh, come on!" He groaned.

Kiawe scrolled down through many links before he realized that he could've just searched up 'Ash Ketchum Trainer Profile.'

Solgaleo, what was _wrong_ with him?!

Ash Ketchum

Gender: Male

Hometown: Pallet Town

Region: Kanto

Trainer Class: Trainer

Blurb: Ash is an energetic trainer known for his unpredictable and unique strategies that certainly shake up the battlefield!

And that was it.

But that _couldn't_ have been it.

He went back to the search page, clicking on the 'Gary Oak' guy's profile and scrolling down.

Achievements:

Kanto League, Indigo Conference: Top 32

Johto League, Silver Conference: Top 16

Not bad.

But the one thing continued to bother Kiawe: Where were _Ash's_ achievements?!

And the Oak kid's blurb was certainly more than a sentence. In fact, it was half a page long.

Kiawe didn't understand the reason behind his new classmate's surprisingly short profile. If he didn't know any better, he would've just assumed that Ash was a new trainer and had achieved absolutely nothing in his career.

The Fire-type trainer still remembered that Pikachu's Quick Attack, knocking back three Salandit as if they were mere toys.

Quick Attack. According to Kukui, it wasn't a very powerful move. It was usually to finish off opponents expediently, securing a victory before switching out.

'That Pikachu's Thunderbolt could injure my Charizard—badly,' he realized.

He remembered how the kid interrupted his battle against Team Skull.

That expression…

"It's cowardly to gang up on someone like that!" Ash had exclaimed that day.

Cowards…what did _he_ know about that?

It wasn't like he knew what it meant to run away from his problems. It wasn't like he knew what it meant to be too weak for someone else. It wasn't like he knew what it meant to be faced with the decision to protect something he truly believed in.

That trainer was so carefree that it was strange when he wasn't smiling.

Yet, it was oddly…right.

Maybe…just maybe… at one point in his training career, Ash was serious about his decisions.

Maybe, he was only serious when it mattered.

But if that was the case, when _did_ it matter?

Kiawe continued to stare at the empty Trainer profile. Maybe if he—

"Hey, Kiawe. What's going on?" Sophocles asked. At his side, Togedemaru waved cheerfully.

"I'm…researching."

"What?"

"Stuff," he replied.

"Let me see," the kid suggested. Kiawe moved in front of the screen to cover it from the boy's sight, but Sophocles was already typing away on the keyboard.

"Ash, huh?" the orange-haired kid asked.

"I was curious."

"Hmmm. There's stuff missing," he remarked.

"I know," Kiawe replied.

"Yeah, but there's stuff that's blocked."

"Huh?"

"The spacing is different between paragraphs." He took control of the keyboard. "Look. I go to 'Inspect Elements' and scroll down like this…there are literally pages of information that have been blacked out."

"What happened?"

"Someone who's pretty good at computers must've done this," the kid muttered to himself. "I should go home and try to hack it!"

With a swing in his step, the other boy walked away.

A blocked profile. How strange.

And his Pokemon weren't even listed.

He turned back to Oak guy's page.

Frequently-Used Pokemon:

Blastoise

Umbreon

Electivire

Arcanine

Dodrio

Scizor

Fearow

Alakazam

Kingdra

Nidoking

Nidoqueen

Golem

Kiawe smiled a little. That was a nice list of Pokemon. No wonder he was such a good Trainer.

Ash, on the other hand…

Not even Pikachu was mentioned.

Ash mentioned catching a Tauros, right? He was extremely gentle with them. Professionally riding a Pokemon took years of training, yet there was nothing in the kid's profile that said anything about a Tauros.

One thing still bothered him.

Ash had this tone of voice he used on Pokemon that was completely disregarded whenever he was near another human. The guy went on and on and on about catching Pokemon but somehow gave the Fire-type trainer the impression as if he felt that Pokemon—whether they were his or not—were more important than other people.

Sometimes Kiawe could feel the silent conversations between Ash and his Pikachu, as if blinks and smiles could suffice for an hour of conversation. They agreed on everything, too. Whatever Ash did, Pikachu was sure to follow. And it was the other way around, too. Pikachu would run off, and Ash would be close behind (how did that kid run so fast in the first place?), yelling 'Wait up!' and forgetting to even question why his starter would run off.

And the way he spoke to other Pokemon…they didn't even have to be his, but even if one were to do something stupid, Ash wouldn't question it. He got along with the forest Pokemon so well that some part of Kiawe believed that he'd lived with them all his life. The kid loved Pokemon—possibly even more than himself—which was both concerning and heartwarming at the same time.

He turned around from the computer screen, realizing that he'd been staring at the empty search bar for at least a good fifteen minutes.

"Hey, Kiawe!" Sophocles greeted, walking up to him. "I couldn't get by. Whoever blocked this page must be _really_ good at computers."

Someone…better than Sophocles at computers? Who? "Really?" he asked.

"Yeah. But don't worry. I have my viruses up to battle his firewall."

"What are you trying to access?"

"That Kalos League footage. And whatever newscast was after that. I was just on it, and then it got blocked. Boy, this other guy's firewall is strong!"

It was as if someone was trying to stop people from learning about his mysterious friend's past.

"You know, we could just ask him," Sophocles suggested. "I'm sure he'd tell us about his adventures."

Somehow, Kiawe doubted that, but nodded along anyway. He'd deal with it another time.


	5. Stories

**So hi, again. I'm in Malaysia, and in Malaysia, this website is blockedddaidaodaibdudbalkdl**

 **Ok so I finally figured a way around the situation without using VPN (because my laptop is just a few clicks away from a breakdown). So here's a chapter.**

 **To my new beta-reader: sorry 'bout this. I can't access our PM** **s right now because Malaysia has a thing against FanFiction websites, apparently.**

 **Yeah so speaking of Malaysia, I've been here for the last month or so. I can't access the website so I've been on the mobile app, where I can't reply to PMs (I do respond to them, by the way! I just shut off notifications for comments for obvious reasons.) or really do anything else but read some pretty good stories when I have WiFi.**

 **So to that one person who was relying on me to respond to their PM, I'm very sorry.**

 **I'm going to be starting school at the (very very objectively) best university in the world (:D) in August, so I won't have time to update or anything. Even so, I do have some short stories queued up and I'll update with at least two more chapters before then, hopefully.**

 **Will I make a similar fanfic for the Galar Region? I hope so. (I do run off of uplifting reviews and PMs, haha, so maybe I'll do it if I get enough encouragement ;D.)**

 **Also, I just discovered the headcannon that Ash went to Unova after Johto and before Hoenn, and it actually makes sense... if it weren't for that giant group photo they took after Ash got back. I actually think it covers a lot of the plot holes considering Ash's maturity level.**

 **One more thing: I know that my capitalization is inconsistent, but that's because I've been shifting my view on capitalization in Pokemon, recently. It's a struggle. Also, some of these short stories were written like a year ago, so there's a disparity that I'm not gonna fix 'cause I'm on the mobile app and everything is a hassle.**

* * *

SFFL: Strange

Based on Episode 9

* * *

"I'm Ash from Pallet Town! Please battle me!" a voice echoed through the grassy cavern, shaking awake its residents.

Yungoos blinked sleep from his eyes and turned around to face his companion at the sound of the shout. " _Ash_?" he asked. " _The name sounds a little familiar_."

Gumshoos's eyes widened. " _Ash? Like, Ash from Pallet Town?"_

The other Normal-Type nodded.

" _Pallet Town?! Like, in Kanto?"_

 _"Yeah, that's what he said. What's so special about Pallet Town?"_

 _"I'll tell you later. For now, we have a Trial to do."_

* * *

The Trial was over, and the Human had won. Gumshoos wasn't surprised, frankly. Behind the carefree look was a fierce trainer. And it seemed that Tapu Koko knew it, too.

" _That Ash kid,_ " the Totem Pokemon said, addressing the spying legendary. " _What do you want with him?"_

 _"He's interesting,"_ Tapu Koko admitted. " _I like him."_

 _"He's very different,"_ Gumshoos agreed.

* * *

" _Ash is famous in the more developed regions,"_ Gumshoos explained to his underling. The forest Pokemon were cleaning up the area, which was littered with scorch marks and muddy footprints. " _Apparently, the Pokemon there know him by name. I heard… that he's the Chosen One."_

Yungoos narrowed his eyes. " _So? What does that have to do with anything?"_

 _"The Totem Pokemon of Alola… we're more sensitive to the divine than our comrades in many other regions. The kid has a look in his eyes."_

 _"You saw it?"_

 _"The moment he told his Pikachu to use Electro Ball…we knew it was him."_

 _"The Chosen One? What does that have to do with anything?"_

 _"Listen closely: when the Chosen One comes to a region, things… happen,"_ the Totem Pokemon explained. " _I've heard stories from the faraway region of Kalos… and how the world had almost come to an end. If it wasn't for him, we would've been long gone. He's destined to save the lives of both Pokemon and Humans wherever he goes."_

 _"So… because he is here now—"_

 _"No,"_ Gumshoos interrupted, " _correlation does not mean causation. But you're right: Alola will be in danger."_

* * *

 _"You gifted him with a Z-Ring?"_ the Totem Pokemon asked.

" _A fitting way to gift the Chosen One,"_ Tapu Koko replied, floating in the air.

" _Ah, so you noticed, too. Who told you that Ash was in our region?"_

 _"No, it was nothing like that. He's just really easy to like."_

Gumshoos hid a laugh. " _I think he has a new fan."_

 _"You're right,"_ the guardian deity agreed. " _He had that kind of aura about him."_

* * *

SFFL: Lured In

* * *

He was a special guy, and Lana knew it.

There were certain aspects to his personality that intrigued her: his charisma, optimistic personality, hilarious clumsiness…the Water-Type trainer thought he was pretty cute at times, too.

Wa—nope, nope, nope—he's not cute—what was she talking about—nothing, of course! Haha…

The first time she saw him, he'd fallen off a Sharpedo. But he'd ridden it well, for an amateur, and it was her fault anyway: she'd surprised him.

Lana didn't believe him at first when he'd said that he didn't have a fishing rod. Kiawe had taken the liberty to search up Pallet Town on the Goomy search engine earlier that week (it wasn't very nice of him but Lana didn't complain: it was also Ash's fault for announcing it wherever he went), and found out that it was a small town filled with farmland and even had a small beach.

What kind of trainer didn't bring their fishing rod? It was practically a key item! And his hometown was coastal too, which gave him absolutely no excuse.

Popplio had been insistent to practice, that day. Lana was excited, too: they'd been practicing for a long time. And when Ash stopped by, Popplio made the biggest balloon he'd ever made. It was like her Water-Type was trying to impress the new trainer in town.

Ash also gave the nicest encouragements: "You wouldn't know unless you try!"

He kept that confident grin on his face, even as the Rotom Dex started to chastise him, as if he firmly believed his words to be true.

It wasn't that far fetched, either, that he would believe in the impossible.

His interactions with Tapu Koko: they were way too nonchalant for Lana's taste. If she hadn't been frozen at the sight of the island guardian (it was her first time), she would've started to hyperventilate. How did a foreigner get to meet the Tapu before she did? And how was he able to treat the legendary Pokemon with such little respect?

Once, in class, Lillie was giving a report on Zygarde.

"It's a Ground and Dragon-Type legendary that neutralizes imbalance to the ecosystem," she explained.

"Oh!" Ash exclaimed, because apparently, he hadn't been in school long enough to understand that interrupting others during their presentations was not something that normal people did. "And it gets food from the sun, right?"

" _It's called photosynthesis_ ," Pikachu remarked (but Lana didn't know that).

"No one asked you."

"Pika pika."

"No _you_ ," Ash said, childishly making faces at his partner.

Later, both parties would claim that they were best friends and would never insult the other.

Another time, her friend group was lazing around the beach. Lana was telling Mallow another tall tale, when Ash, who was making a sand castle with his Pokemon, suddenly said:

"You know, I've met Kyogre before."

Lana didn't know whether to believe him: there was this reminiscing look in his eyes that made her conflicted. Should she ask? Or save face?

Ash didn't elaborate. He continued to play with his Pokemon friends, and before long, it was too late to ask him about it.

* * *

SFFL: The Cover-Up

* * *

There had been a problem with Kanto's Internet while Ash was gone, but he'd left Lance in charge, so everything should be fixed in time. Apparently, they tried to update the outdated trainer records (and take people like Ash and Gary, who now worked for the government, off), but Goomy Chrome froze over for the entire region and the new Elite Four were terribly distressed.

(So was Bill: he'd emailed the Champion with an apology letter.)

There was one thing on his mind, but he pushed it away in favor of hanging out with his partner on that uninhabited island for the day.

Clemont called him, later. He seemed somewhat distressed.

"Hey, Ash. I need your advice on something."

"What's up?"

"Diantha called me. She wants a favor."

Ash's attention wasn't really on the video call. His new Litten was curled at the foot of his makeshift bed, shivering.

The trainer could relate: he'd never seen a Pokemon die, before. (Okay, that was false. He had, years ago, but he hadn't thought much about Lucario's sacrifice in a while.) It was why he was still awake, at three in the morning. Again.

"Ash?" Clemont asked.

"Yeah?"

"Diantha wants me to erase all evidence of the crisis this past year."

"And?"

"I did it."

"What's the problem?"

"I helped censor our region's history. And it…" He trailed off.

Ash reached for Litten, picked him up, and sat the Fire-type onto his lap, covering his sleeping form with a small blanket. "Other regions do it too, you know. Once, the world was literally going to flood over because of Kyogre, and guess who came to fix it? Lance, of all people."

"Lance?! Isn't he—"

"Yeah, he had no reason to be there, as the Champion of Kanto and Johto at the time. I helped with that mission too, but to be honest, Pikachu and I didn't do much."

Clemont seemed to brighten up.

"This type of information usually gets hidden, anyway," Ash continued. "They stay in official records, books, and other physical copies, so if you visit a new region and read up about it, the real information can usually be found. And if you search it up on a library or Pokemon Center computer, everything'll still be there."

"So it's not really censoring, it's—"

"It's still censoring, but since the false information is only spread to other regions, everyone's okay with it."

"Yeah, so that's what I wanted to talk to you about. I had to get rid of the Kalos League Finals footage. Want a copy of it?"

"Nah. Kanto'll have a laugh if they find out that I've been losing any battles recently."

"Alright. See you, then."

Clemont was smiling as he ended the call.

Ash didn't really know why he defended Diantha like that. Maybe it was because he was behind a lot of the censoring, too. If word got out that Kanto had been integral to keeping other regions functioning, there'd be an outrage, and Ash would have to deal with more drama than he already did.

(There were some people out there who didn't believe that a minor should be leading the region, and Ash agreed, for the most part. At least he was doing a better job than… Alder, probably.)

* * *

SFFL: Sleep Talk

* * *

Kukui had a lot of late-night work to do. One of his articles had received a particularly negative review from another regional Professor (Rowan could be really mean, sometimes), and Kukui's counterargument… wasn't going so well.

It was at least four in the morning, and Kukui knew that he should be getting some sleep soon. Tomorrow, after teaching, he had to attend a lecture about some new kind of evolution over video chat. Professor Sycamore had become particularly crazy about the bonds between Trainers and their Pokemon, and had apparently discovered some strange new 'counterpart' to Mega Evolution that would "surely make you guys rethink the bonds between people and Pokemon! Professor Oak was right!"

Hey, didn't Ash come from Pallet Town, where Professor Oak lived? Eh, it wasn't the time to think about that. He just had to finish his little rebuttal, then post another article about Z-Moves. And then he'd have time to finish a paper, write two reports, and get started with that dream of his…

It was a particularly clear night, and Kukui could see billions of stars from the living room coffee table he'd stationed himself at. His window was open, and a sweet, salty breeze blew through the air.

Must…stay…awake…

His weary eyes were about to close when he heard muttering coming from the upstairs loft where Ash and Pikachu slept. The Pokemon Professor had gotten used to the soft snoring of another person in the house (heck, even he snored).

"D-dodge…yeah, I see it too."

The Pokemon Professor blinked his eyes and slapped himself in the face to shake himself awake. He had an article to finish and a lecture to attend tomorrow. If he hurried, he knew he'd be able to prepare for Sycamore's talk with questions and background research, but as of now, he wasn't going to make it through the night.

"Don't worry," Ash mumbled, upstairs. "We can do it."

Kukui looked back to his screen.

The intricate personality of individual Pokemon can have a drastic effect on the battle style a Trainer may have to use, which in turn affects the strength of certain moves as well as certain innate battling characteristics a Pokemon has. Because of this, I have proposed twenty-five different 'natures' of a sort, to categorize a 

"Use Night Slash…dodge with Double Tea—no, get up, please. W-we're together in this, remember?" Ash muttered in his sleep.

categorize and

"Use Water Shuriken!" It was a shout, this time, before another groan of pain echoed from the upstairs loft.

Kukui may have become accustomed to Ash's snoring, but he wasn't prepared for sleep talking.

"Greninja, bear with me."

Kukui couldn't ignore it anymore. He set down his work, got to his feet, and climbed the ladder to the attic loft, wincing as the wood creaked under his weight.

"Aerial Ace into Night Slash! Left! There's one behind you! Double Team!"

The young trainer was a sweaty mess on the couch. His face was stuck in a grimace and his arms flailed wildly. Pikachu stood at his feet, scowling at nothing. Litten pawed at his hair, concerned. Rowlet flew in circles, terrified. Rockruff trembled under the blanket that had fallen at the foot of the couch.

"Pikachu, what happened?" Kukui demanded.

"Pika-pika."

"Let me just wake him u—"

"Pika-chu! Pika-pika!"

"Why… why not?"

The electric mouse gave him a threatening glare but did not reply.

"Greninja, where's Squishy? Was he—Xerosic!"

Pikachu flinched. From his side, Rockruff whimpered and started to howl.

"Double Team! Night Slash! Watch ou—"

In his sleep, Ash instinctively clutched his stomach, as if an invisible force had punched the air out of him. Beads of sweat ran down his face, and he suddenly felt years older, like he'd matured over the course of a mere five seconds.

"Pikapika…"

Kukui grabbed a towel from a railing and wiped the teen's forehead with it. "You're worried about Ash, aren't you?" he asked.

"Pika-chu…"

"Greninja, get up!" the trainer yelled. "Don't give in!"

The Professor racked his brain for background information. Greninja was a Kalosian Pokemon. A Water and Dark-type. Bipedal. Used its tongue as a weapon. Did Ash have a Greninja?

"I know we can do it!"

"Pika-pika-chu…"

The trainer yelled in his sleep, screaming as a wave of pain flooded over him. With a final shout, he fell limp on the couch.

* * *

"Ash, you look tired," Lillie commented. The Pokemon trainer was slumped in his seat, rubbing at the dark circles under his eyes. His hair was even more of a mess than usual, and his shirt was on backwards.

"It's nothing," the boy responded. "I just had a restless sleep last night. Bad dream. That's all."

What exactly happened last night?

(Kukui ended up missing that lecture he wanted to attend. Oak pestered him about a giant Water Shuriken for weeks.)

* * *

 **Ok I'm done gn**

 **I apologize for the terrible formatting but maybe one day the mobile app will work better, y'know?**


End file.
